RIP Alan ‘Ace’ Greenberg

Alan “Ace” Greenberg, the executive who helped turn Bear Stearns Cos. into one of the world’s biggest—and riskiest—securities firms, died of complications from cancer in New York on Friday at the age of 86.

Mr. Greenberg began his career at Bear Stearns in 1949 and rose through the ranks over many decades, taking over as chief executive in 1978 and running the New York firm until 1993, when he handed the reins to trusted associate James Cayne. An avid bridge player, Mr. Greenberg liked risk takers and found, in Mr. Cayne, a like-minded protégé.

Mr. Greenberg was raised in Oklahoma City and briefly attended the University of Oklahoma on a football scholarship. He brought an outsider’s sensibility to Wall Street. While rival investment banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.GS -0.49% and J.P. Morgan JPM -0.27%fashioned themselves as white-shoe firms catering to the global elite, Bear Stearns was a scrappy upstart that often managed to out-hustle rivals on deals.

Bear Stearns became a symbol of the financial crisis when it nearly collapsed in March 2008 as clients grew concerned about the risky mortgage securities Bear had created, and pulled their money en masse. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. bought the New York firm for $10 a share after initially striking a deal at $2.